Efficient coupling of multibody software with numerical computing environments and block diagram simulators

Abstract

[Abstract] Simulation of complex mechatronic systems like an automobile, involving mechanical components as well as actuators and active electronic control devices, can be accomplished by combining tools that deal with the simulation of the different subsystems. In this sense, it is often desirable to couple a multibody simulation software (for the mechanical simulation) with external numerical computing environments and block diagram simulators (for the modelling and simulation of non-mechanical components). In this work, an in-house developed C++ MBS simulation software has been coupled with the commercial tools MATLAB and Simulink, and different coupling techniques have been identified, implemented and tested in order to assess their computational performance. Two categories of coupling techniques have been investigated: those in which only one tool per-forms the integration (function evaluation) and those in which each tool uses its own integrator (co-simulation). Furthermore, the efficiency of the described coupling methods has been compared to that of equivalent monolithic models, and indications are provided to im-plement them in other simulation environments. Results show that state-of-the-art coupling techniques can reduce simulation times in one or two orders of magnitude with respect to standard techniques. Finally, advices are provided to select the coupling method best suited to a particular application, as a function of its efficiency and implementation effort.